Mayo school to launch ‘Old Factories of Westport’ heritage booklet
Student-led project explores Westport’s industrial past through local research, family histories and archival discoveries
Holy Trinity National School is set to launch a new heritage booklet exploring Westport’s industrial past via research carried out by pupils into the factories that once shaped the town’s economy and community life.
The publication, titled Old Factories of Westport, will be officially launched by Liamy MacNally on Wednesday, June 3, at 12.30pm in the Seán Staunton Room at the Westport Town Hall Theatre.
The project was undertaken by children in the Senior Room at Holy Trinity NS as part of the Burrenbeo Trust Heritage Keepers programme, which encourages pupils to investigate and connect with local heritage and place-based history.
After the programme, pupils became fascinated by the number and diversity of factories that once operated in Westport and set about uncovering stories behind the town’s industrial heritage.
Research focused on what was manufactured locally, who worked in the factories, the kinds of jobs carried out and what daily life was like for workers in years gone by.
Using interviews, historic advertisements, newspaper archives, online research, books and artefacts, pupils pieced together information about industries that played an important role in shaping Westport’s past. Many also discovered personal family links to businesses and workplaces featured in their investigations.
The school is inviting members of the public, local historians, former factory workers and their families to attend the launch and celebrate the pupils’ work at 12.30pm on Wednesday, June 3 at the Westport Town Hall Theatre.